Paying with Interest (2)

Voldemort laughed and called to someone at the door. The door opened and in came two death-eaters. Voldemort turned to one of them and said:

"Bind her and flog her, MacRae."

Minerva was shocked. MacRae had been a student of hers not so long ago. Through a daze of disbelief, Minerva heard an inhalation from the death-eater, presumably of shocked dismay – in truth, of anticipatory enjoyment. And she realized what hate really meant. Not theirs. Hers.

So far as Minerva was now concerned, she had little left to lose, and she didn't make it easy for them. Rough hands jerked her forward.

"Let go of me, you bloody lout!" Minerva yelled, and kicked one man-handler squarely where it would do most good. He crumpled with a groan. The other man hit her in the stomach, and she lost her breath.

MacRae bound her hands before her, looping a woven rope about her wrists, leaving a length of several feet. He had the grace to look ashamed as he did it, but would not raise his eyes to hers, and it was clear Minerva could expect neither help nor lenience from that quarter; He was as much at the mercy of Lord Voldemort as Minerva was.

Minerva's arms stretched high above her head as the rope was thrown through a metal ring fastened to the ceiling and hauled tight. She gritted her teeth and held tight to her fury; it was the only thing she had to combat her fear. There was an air of breathless expectancy emitting from Voldemort.

"Give it to her, MacRae!" his friend she had kneed shouted. "Get on with it!"

MacRae paused, scourge held level at waist height and waited for Voldemort's signal to begin. He nodded once. MacRae walked forward and gently adjusted Minerva's position, so that she faced the nearby wall, almost touching it. Then he drew back two paces, raised the whip and let it fall.

The shock of it was worse than the pain. In fact, it was only after several blows that she realized the poor lad was doing his level best to spare her what he could. Still, one or two blows were hard enough to break the skin; she felt the sharp tingle in the wake of the impact.

Minerva had her eyes shut tight, cheek pressed hard against the wall, trying for all she was worth to be somewhere else. Suddenly, though, the whipping stopped. Voldemort's face appeared in her vision.

"Do you have enough, dear. I would hate to leave scars on you. So be a nice girl and beg me to stop it."

Minerva mastered the last shreds of her famous Gryffindor bravery and spat in Voldemort's face. He was livid with anger and madness lit up his eyes.

"Take her down and bring her to the ballroom. NOW!"

----

Every last death-eater who was not on a mission or away from on some other business was assembled in the ballroom. Among them was one Severus Snape, Professor for Potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

He was shocked beyond words when Minerva was half dragged, half carried into the room. Now they had proof that Rolanda's suspicion was true. 'This was bad! This was really bad! Voldemort stops at nothing. And she's in the line of fire now. Damn!'

Severus thoughts were cut off by a scream. Lucius Malfoy was pushing Molly Weasley into the room. When she had seen the bloody mess her former teacher was now she had screamed and tried to get to her. Bellatrix was laughing when Molly was caught around the waist by Macnair and held back. She could easily read the signs her husband had left on the once pretty, if not beautiful, woman. She was taking joy from Molly's pain.

"What are you laughing at, you ... you evil cockroach?! Minerva McGonagall is worth much more than a death-eater whore like you!"

Molly yelled at Bellatrix. Severus closed his eyes briefly, praying to any listening God that Bella was in a good mood today and wouldn't kill Molly for this insult.

"How dare you, filth!" screeched Bellatrix.

Severus knew instantly that Molly was in deep trouble. No one except the Dark Lord talked to Bellatrix Lestrange without respect or insulted her. Snape remembered one evening during the first Wizarding War in the noble mansion of the Lestranges. Rudolphus had just found out that his wife was sleeping with the Dark Lord. He had been truly angered and demanded an explanation from his wife. Bellatrix had readily enough confessed that she cheated on her husband. She had then resorted to calling Rudolphus all kinds of a lousy lover. Rudolphus, a proud pure-blood macho, had struck his wife, yelling bloody murder and forbidding her to be the Dark Lord's whore. Bellatrix, with murder in her eyes, had attacked Rudolphus, cursing him with the Cruciatus Curse and various other painful curses from her arsenal of the dark arts. It had taken the whole assembly to hold her back and thus stop her from killing her husband. As far as Snape knew that was the last time the couple was left alone in a room and the day their marriage ended.

Molly would not survive a temper fit from Bellatrix Lestrange. She was barely standing as it was and ... oh my god!

Snape had just found the courage to look at her properly. Molly's hair was a mess of tangled red curls. She was naked under a threadbare grey blanket. Black, blue and purple bruises covered her face, neck and arms. Her nose was bleeding but at least it was not broken. On her left leg was a bandage of what looked like stripes ripped from the blanket. Blood was seeping through it and her leg couldn't take her weight. Her back and arms were lacerated.

'How am I supposed to tell Arthur in what condition his Molly is in? And Minerva? How is she?'

Severus gaze turned to his colleague. It took all his willpower not to gasp. Minerva, always proud and erect, was a mess of bloody flesh. Her back was in tatters, blood slowly coursing over her alabaster skin. And there was a freshly healed scar on her chest. Snape did gasp when he recognized the sign it formed. It was the Dark Mark. 'Dumbledore will kill the Dark Lord. There will be no stopping his rage.'

"You will have your satisfaction, Bella. Professor McGonagall here was a very naughty girl. She thinks she can refuse me. I believe a little demonstration is in order. One after the other come forward and hex her. Whatever curse you want. Begin."

Lucius Malfoy was all too eager to start. He stepped forward, raised his wand and shouted:

"Crucio!"

Minerva writhed in pain but refused to scream. Tears formed in her eyes and her jaws were clenched tightly together. It took all her remaining willpower but she did not scream.

Rudolphus let a fiery whip appear out of the tip of his wand and beat Minerva a few times with it.

Bellatrix was really cruel. She used the Imperio Curse on her and made her kiss Voldemort's shoes, begging her to fuck her thoroughly.

After a while she lost track of time and prayed that it would be over soon.